Fatal hyperthermia secondary to sunbathing in a patient with multiple sclerosis

A 27-year-old white woman with a history of multiple sclerosis was found dead lying on a lounger, clad in a bathing suit. She had been sunbathing for 4 hours. Significant autopsy findings consisted of numerous variably sized demyelinated plaques involving the periventricular cerebral white matter and cerebellum. Elevation of core temperature in patients with multiple sclerosis leading to transient or permanent adverse neurologic signs and symptoms has been documented for more than 60 years. This case illustrates that a modestly increased core body temperature, even from a usually innocuous activity such as sunbathing, may be fatal in patients with multiple sclerosis.